Tag Archives: salvation

To be honest with you, I thought innocently that God of the Old Testament behaved differently than in the New Testament because the covenant changed. This doctrine, that I am sure you also heard, has convinced me skillfully not to say deceitfully! I didn’t argue with it I just let it pass but deep inside I was not feeling good about belonging to “A GOD WHO KILLED PEOPLE” for a while until a better covenant came to pass.

This morning the Lord led me to read a certain passage in the gospels and the understanding he unfolded to me changed the whole formula and introduced me to the real God. What you are about to read here will wowy you and it will for sure bibidi babidi bou you!

In Luke 9:51, James and John wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume the Samaritans who opposed the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. They said to Jesus with a religious zeal, excitement and “feeling right about it” attitude: “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

Cool boys, I am happy and satisfied you wanted to be scriptural and never do a thing not backed up in the book of LIFE. Before proceeding I just want to throw this for free, is not it strange and weird to bring death out of the book of LIFE? James and John were right about two things: they were in a relationship with Jesus and they asked him if he would like to barbecue some Samaritan flesh because of opposition and second they knew that only God would command the fire to come down from heaven! No man can do that!

BUT … Elijah never called the fire down from heaven to consume the false prophets but to demonstrate that God is a living God and THAT fire consumed the ALTAR he built by the leading of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if at that instant James and John forgot this IMPORTANT detail because they were religiously zealous and angry!

Once again, Elijah by the leading of the Holy Spirit called down fire from heaven on the altar and the Israelites who saw it were marveled and could have turned back to God if they had a chance to. But we will see that Elijah after this good glory demonstration didn’t give them any!

But He [Jesus] turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Religion wants to barbecue people, Jesus wants to unbarbecue you! … After I read that, my eyes were opened and I said, hmmm wait a moment! If God sent the fire using Elijah to demonstrate his presence to turn his people back to him, then he must have told Elijah to kill them all after that. Because Elijah was a prophet and he must be led by Holy Spirit to kill them all and slaughter each, after all, we have been taught that God of the Old Testament can do that easily because of “THE AVAILABLE COVENANT” back then!

I am not here to defend God but my bible says that Jesus is the same today yesterday and forever. God’s nature doesn’t change according to James 1: 16-17“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every GOOD gift and every PERFECT gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” God is good and perfect and this will remain forever no matter how much doctrines will say differently with a religious zeal! Jesus is always about saving souls even in the Old Testament.

Could it be that Elijah started in the spirit and continued in the flesh? Why did Elijah killed the 850 false prophets and not gave them a chance to be God’s prophets? It was a very good potential opportunity that moment don’t you think? But it was lost forever because he got religiously excited!

To be honest with you I don’t know why Elijah killed them all but I am sure that Jesus doesn’t want a soul to be doomed but to be given chance after another to turn back to God! How many chances these false prophets were given to repent after that glorious demonstration? NONE.

In my opinion, Elijah started ministering good but got in the flesh. The Law of Moses commanded NOT TO KILL and it is a GOD GIVEN LAW. When you get religiously zealous, you want to add to the word of God or take from it. Elijah could have thought in himself, it is OK to kill them all “Exclusively”. Maybe because the Law of Moses at some point was confusing and unclear.

Bear with me to clarify this point with you please. Moses got the laws from God but after a while and because the Israelites were so hard and unbearable Moses ALLOWED things. At some point, leading very hard people drove Moses to permit some things to CONTROL the crowd under the name of GOD! But did God say that? In the beginning, no, GOD had clear laws, but later on, MOSES PERMITTED THINGS. No wonder why Elijah could have been confused.

They said to Him [Jesus], “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. Matthew 19

Moses permitted some laws beside the laws of God just to settle some issues to go have some good deep sleep. His church was a headache! BE TERRIFIED if you permit things that God’s nature doesn’t approve it.

Let’s wrap it. Yes, we read in the whole bible that the goodness of God issued some endings to wicked people and cities. So God in his sovereignty can terminate things. But in my opinion and understanding, God does this after he gives many chances because HE IS PATIENT, merciful and slow to anger. BUT when he finds that there is no more way to repent and that the cup of sin is full he takes some steps to demonstrate his goodness by cutting some things off. Doctors are good when they cut an infected organ in someone’s body if they know for sure there is no more option as hard as this is.

Did Elijah give chances to these false prophets? Was he long-suffering and patient with them? Let’s check our ministries if they are aligned with the nature of God or not.

Peter also got the “religious killing zeal” MODE ON for JESUS and dismembered the ear of an antichrist enemy in the garden of Gethsemane. Not knowing that Peter himself was an antichrist in this action. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

James, John, Peter, and Elijah were all zealous religiously and did things they thought approved by God. They were trying to show some love the best they knew how. It is not a devotion to disfavor God’s servants and their weaknesses, we are no better in many situations.

Bottom-line, Jesus shows his heart many times that he is for you not against you. He wants to save you and not destroy you. “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” Ezekiel 18:23.

You and I with a huge cloud of witnesses have misrepresented the true good nature of God at some point in our life. The Lord told me this morning: “When you understand my nature you read things right”. The Lord can forgive us all this mess and misrepresentation if we repent. God is always angry at sin not at sinners. Jesus was violent with sin issues and flipped the tables but never slapped anyone! Can we minister without chopping heads? Yes, it is possible if you know how loving God is!

A sinner in the hands of an angry God is the most beautiful experience at all. Because he lavishes you with his bounty goodness, unconditional love, many chances to be saved and redeemed to flourish beautifully before him for his glory. You will be undone by his beating heart for you! However, after experiencing his many goodness demonstrations if you decide to trample on the precious saving blood of Jesus and reject LIFE, whose fault is this?

It’s so amazing that we are looking for God and at the very same time He is looking for us. A few weeks ago, I shared with you from John 4:2, 24: But the time is coming, indeed it is here now when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

Today, God is still seeking, He is still looking!

Listen to Ezekiel 22:30-“I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me before the land that I should not destroy it but I found none.” God seeks for a man to make up the hedge and stand in the gap…

I like to look up definitions to words and so I would like to share with you the definitions for a few of the words that I looked up: The sought means to seek, require, request, face to face. Hedge means fence, wall, fortified wall. Stand means to remain, stable, endure, take a stand. Gap means breach, bursting forth, outburst, and broken wall.

Here are some examples of people who have stood in the gap: Abraham was invited by God to stand in the gap for Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham had a visitation and before the visitation was over, made clear to Abraham was He was considering with regard to Sodom important and Gomorrah.

Genesis 19:10 shows us that because of Moses standing in the gap, that the city of Sodom and Gomorrah was not saved, but Abraham’s family who resided there was saved. This is why standing in the gap is so Moses models standing in the gap.

In Exodus 33:11, it is said of Moses that the Lord spoke with him face-to-face. Moses spoke to God on behalf of Israel.

Genesis 32:30 reveals to us that Jacob had a face-to-face encounter with God and he was preserved.

Be encouraged to stand in the gap for yourselves or for your nation!

We can stand in the gap in prayer but stand in the gap to repent. Nehemiah stood in the gap and repented on behalf of his nation for things that he did not do but in order for the nation to advance, repentance was required. As a result, the dilapidated wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt in less than 60 days.

2 Chronicles 20:21 shows us that those who sang went out before Judah’s army singing, praising, giving thanks and worshiping God. They were in the gap for Judah! Because of their bold moved to sing, praise, give thanks and praise in the gap, those that came up against Judah were ambushed.

So far, we have seen that we can stand in the gap with prayer, repentance, praise and thanksgiving. Other ways that we can be in the gap is with fasting. In Esther 4:16, it is recorded that Esther said to observe a fast for me-do not eat or drink for three days night or day.” This fast was requested by Esther because she was planning to approach the king without his summons which was against the law. The Jewish people complied with her request and Esther’s life was spared. The Jewish people fasted in the gap.

So, many times we feel led to be in the gap for others. Just know that all of these things can work as you are in the gap: pray, repent, praise, give thanks, worship and fast! God bless you!

What is it about marriage that almost everyone wants to experience? Is it the routine of humanity since the dawn of time? Or there is really an ecstatic taste for such an experience that no one wants to miss? I don’t know if you are single or engaged but in case you are single this devotion will stir you for marriage and if you are already in the golden cage, posture yourself for one of the greatest experiences that God fashioned for you.

The idea of marriage is perfect, awesome and exciting, not agreeing with this? Well go check all the wedding photos and videos, everyone is smiling and seems to be happy. Marriage ought not to be celebrated big time out loud once by the couple, celebration is the big entrance that should lead you to other party doors that await you to discover or create. Sounds so perfect and too good to be true? You can’t believe it because of the kind of marriages you are seeing around you in this fallen world? Let me remind you that God is good and his concepts, designs and lifestyles for you are so good, but we ruin it. I believe if you connect back to him as couples and surrender your marriage to him, you will relive the glorious experience again or soon you will if you are still single.

God wants to heal you and your marriage and he wants to put a banner of love above it all the time. This should be your atmosphere and ceiling to live under, not division, unforgiveness, dishonor and cold love. Do you remember when you surrendered your life to Jesus and got saved? Still remember the excitement that day you marked on your calendar? Everything you surrender to God shall be saved, so does your marriage my friend.